“Israel itself was ethnically cleansed of 750,000 Palestinians in 1948, and was designated ‘Jewish,’ such that the expelled Palestinians (now millions strong) were denied the right to return to their homes. Some 70% of the residents of the Gaza Strip are from southern Israel, and cannot return to their nearby homes in cities such as Sderot, where Israelis have settled Ethiopians and Thai guest workers. In the Palestinian West Bank, some 600,000 Israeli squatters have usurped significant amounts of land from Palestinians, for which they paid nothing to the original owners, and their squatter settlements are off-limits to Palestinians, who cannot live in them.”

“I sent a few #CancelColbert tweets in solidarity, making it clear that racism (and ethnic insensitivity and Orientalism) is simply unacceptable. And I was most disheartened to receive several tweets and Facebook replies from black people defending the show. Though none of them used the word, the gist of many of the replies was to explain to me that the tweet was part of a satire — a satire meant to critique racism — and as such, the show shouldn’t be canceled, because Asian Americans were just being hypersensitive and overreacting to something designed actually to help.

“It is understandable why this tradition frightens Obama. It exposes him as the ideological heir of Booker T. Washington, a black accommodationist whose core message to black people was, in the words of W.E.B. Du Bois, “adjustment and submission.” The wide swath of destruction Obama has overseen on behalf of the corporate state includes the eradication of most of our civil liberties and our privacy, the expansion of imperial war, the use of kill lists, abject subservience to Wall Street’s criminal class and the military-industrial complex, the relentless persecution of whistle-blowers, mass incarceration of poor people of color and the failure to ameliorate the increasing distress of the poor and the working class. His message to the black underclass in the midst of the corporate rape of the nation is drawn verbatim from the Booker T. Washington playbook. He tells them to work harder—as if anyone works harder than the working poor in this country—and obey the law.”

It’s best to begin this with a statement of intent: I ingest a lot of popular culture. It’s the staple of a lot of conversations with friends, a reliable icebreaker when meeting new people and can make me a useful addition to any pub-quiz team.

However, many think that popular television, movies and music are disposable pursuits. It’s what you do from being exhausted after a long day at work and want something to passively consume. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard, “It doesn’t matter. It’s only a song/movie/TV show.”

I divest from such a viewpoint. Popular culture is one of the few things that link a large portion of this country – and further afield. It’s one of many aspects of how we mediate our relationship with ourselves, and those…

During the interview, Mr. Luna and O’Brien talked about the changing demographics of the country and how speaking Spanish would be a necessity in the future. Luna said, “47 million people speak Spanish today and we like having sex, so multiply that [by] eight…” and you get the picture of where the country is headed.

It was an unfortunate quip in an otherwise funny conversation, but it underscored that even Latinos succumb to believing that we are hyper-sexual beings by virtue of our ethnicity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the teenage pregnancy rate remains two times higher than the rate for non-Hispanic teens in 2011. But does this mean Latinos are more sexual than others? Not likely.

“Another common response to complaining is that the respondent has heard it all before. ‘That problem has been around forever’, they say, as if this itself did not attest to the severity of the problem. Long-term complaining indicates that a problem is serious and structural, not that it is hopeless and should continue to be ignored.

Complaints long discounted often grow louder over time. We see this today in the slowly growing movement against labour exploitation in America, a movement which includes everyone from fast food workers to adjunct professors. As the American economy lurches into permanent contingency, everyone is told it is their own fault.”

On this episode of Cafecito, we are joined by Fast & Furious 6 star Michelle Rodriguez . The proud puertorriqueña-dominicana actress joined us at the Hearst Tower as Cosmopolitan for Latinas honored her as the Fun Fearless Latina of the Year. Michelle discusses her humble beginnings, her fight training for the character “Letty” and why she believes it’s time for women to thrive in media. Be sure to watch for the conclusion of our interview with Michelle as she discusses her dating life, upcoming films and advice for young women.

The media is always trying to bank on whatever fills their pockets with money. Back in “the good old days” people of color were not allowed in the media. Latinos had to change their names and appearance to more “standard” and “appealing” looks like Rita Hayworth. Let’s not forget about Blackface. Today, not much has changed. If a person of color is portrayed on TV we can only fill certain roles. Unless, we are racially ambiguous like Jessica Alba, or look primarily, well how can I say this, WHITE, like Sara Paxton. And even then we don’t get leading lady roles. Not much has changed since the days of Blackface.

Why don’t I want to be a Hollywood actress or TV star?

1. Do I want to play a “chola”?
Why can’t I play the voice of my generation? Oh wait that’s already been taken.GIFSoup

This post was inspired by a quote from one of my favorite comedians Margaret Cho.
” I love me some period films! And I know that I will never be in them. I will never be in any of these movies, unless I am laying down on my side smoking some opium. And I get offered movie roles all the time, but I say, “No! No! I don’t want to play a manicurist. I don’t want to play a really pissed-off liquor store owner. I don’t want to go nowhere with a chicken under my arm. I don’t want to play an exceptionally good student, I do not want to get off a tour bus and take numerous photographs, I do not ever want to utter the phrase, ‘Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond’! I don’t want to write down all my memoirs about being a geisha!”